Is there a time limit on reporting unpaying bidders?

[bluepink_cat]

I sent an invoice after the auction ended on 15th February and again on 20th February. I then noticed that eBay had sent a Purchase Reminder on 17th.

The bidder has good feedback (322) and his last purchase, according to his Feedback, was on 3rd February so I am hesitant to report in case he is sick or something.

My question really is how long do I wait before reporting before my chance "expires". I haven't sold since 2009 and have just returned. This happened once before but the lady in that case was making excuses and promised to pay. Next thing I knew she is no longer a member and I could not claim my fees back. I don't want this to happen again.

It is now one week since the auction ended and he placed his winning bid ten seconds before it ended. However, looking at the bid list, it looks like a proxy bid as he first placed his bid on 12th February and his amount went up six times since his opening bid.

I am in a quandary as to what to do as he appears to have been a good eBayer before this.

Thanks for any advice.

[*bad*angel* · Accepted solution]

You have up to 32 days to begin an unpaid item dispute.  You'd normally send one reminder around day 5 and open the dispute on day 7 if no response, but you can open the dispute as soon as 4 full days post sale.

Your call as to whether you send another reminder now, or just go straight to the dispute. Dont forget that while feedback may look good, buyers can only have good fb and you cant see how many strikes this person may have.

Do you have blocks in place to stop bidders with strikes? If not go to your My eBay preferences section (click on the Account tab), and look for Buyer Requirements under the Selling Preferences heading and select the bidder blocks you want, in particular the one to stop members with unpaid item strikes against their accounts.